Mt Rainier National Park - Day 2

Luckily our prayers were answered and the weather for a second day at Mt Rainier was perfect. After sleeping in to almost 10:00 am (a first for this trip), we started a day of hiking.

Our first and longest hike of the day was the Comet Falls trail. This was a 4.8 mile hike with more than 1,500 feet of elevation gain along the trail. The tail ran alongside of a raging stream and at several places we saw waterfalls and thought we were at the end of the line, but the trail continued and so did we. About 1,000 feet or so from the end of the trail we reached an elevation that still had significant snow coverage which made hike more of a challenge.

When we saw Comet Falls, we knew we were in the right place. The 350 foot waterfall cascaded spectacularly before us. A great photo opportunity! Unfortunately Conor and Sara took and alternative trail up the final few yards before the falls and ended up on the wrong side so they decided to cross back over under the falls and got soaking wet. Keegan, not to be left out, decided to help them and also got quite a shower. While leaving the falls, a snow ridge under Bill gave way and nearly sent him sliding down a hundred foot ravine. Only cat like reflexes and expert use of his climbing poles avoided a nasty spill.

After driving to the Paradise Visitor Center, the kids chose to just hang out at the RV so Michelle and Bill went on a relatively short hike through the snow on the Nisqually Vista trail.

The trail was only 1.8 miles long and 335 ft of elevation, but entirely covered with snow which made it more challenging. The end of the trail had a wonderful view of Mt Rainier and one of the many glaciers that cover it. On the way back we stopped to take some photos and heard a soft thumping noise which turned out to be a blue grouss.

Our last hike of the day was on the skyline trail leading directly above the visitor center. Again the kids chose to stay in the RV. We hiked about a half mile straight up in the snow. It was like walking up Gunbarrel at Ski Sundown. At the top was a great view of the surrounding mountains.

Since Michelle and I had worked up an appetite while the kids took it easy, we chose to go to dinner at the Paradise Inn in the park. I had a wonderful buffalo meatloaf and Michelle a vegetable napoleon. The kids ate in the RV and then we headed back to our campsite for yet another night sitting around the camp fire.

During our stay at Mt Rainier National Park we saw abundant wildlife including deer, elk, Tompson Chipmonk, Cascade Fox, marmont and blue grouss.

At this point we are 3,837 miles along our journey.